Early in "Americanah," Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's first novel in seven years, a newly arrived Nigerian college student and her Nigerian aunt are chatting in the aunt's Brooklyn apartment.

Explaining why she'll straighten her hair for upcoming interviews, Aunty Uju gets right to the point: "You are in a country that is not your own. You do what you have to do if you want to succeed." | May 17, 2013»Read Full Article

But I'll personally remember the severe panic of having major technical problems on deadline, the rush of being in the muddy photo pit for a wild rock moment, and a lot of crazy, crazy party people. | Aug. 4, 2014»Read Full Article

After two intense days in Chicago's Grant Park, Sunday afternoon at Lollapalooza seemed like a good time to just ... chill. And there were plenty of softer options to soothe the masses suffering from heatstroke and hangover headaches, including Jhené Aiko — this year's undercard artist most likely headed for stardom.

But for the invincible, there was the sweat-soaked — and rain-soaked — swagger of Cage the Elephant, the stomping alternative rock act responsible for the greatest set I saw all weekend, hands down. | Aug. 3, 2014»Read Full Article

Two Chicagoland writers will read from their well-received new novels during a joint visit Wednesday to Milwaukee's Boswell Book Company, 2559 N. Downer Ave.

The eponymous building in Rebecca Makkai's"The Hundred-Year House" (Viking) may be actually haunted by a ghost, or metaphorically haunted by the lives of its former occupants. "Makkai has written a novel that reads almost like early Muriel Spark — clever, competent, and concealing an unsettling and skewed reality under the straightforward genre piece it initially presents itself as," wrote Chicago Tribune reviewer Amy Gentry. | Aug. 3, 2014»Read Full Article

Cat nap

Do lions snore? How about grizzly bears? Here's an opportunity to find out for yourself at Snooze at the Zoo. You can spend a night at the Milwaukee County Zoo, 10001 W. Blue Mound Road, Wednesday through Saturday. The evening starts at 5 p.m. There will be a picnic buffet followed by s'mores around a campfire before bedtime. In the morning there will be a continental breakfast. Then campers can spend the day checking up on their neighbors. A night at the zoo includes the meals and costs $50 for adults (age 13 and up), $35 for children ages 3-12 or $160 for a family of four (toddlers are free and youngsters under the age of 21 must be accompanied by an adults). Register at www.zoosociety.org. | Aug. 3, 2014»Read Full Article